The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a card tray and a card connector, and, more particularly, to a compact, low-profile card tray and card connector able to reliably hold a card without damaging the components inside the card connector.
Electronic devices include card connectors to allow various types of memory cards. As electronic devices become smaller and more compact, so do memory cards and card connectors. It can be difficult for users to grasp these cards and insert them properly into a card connector. In one proposal, a card is set into a card tray, and the card tray is inserted into a card connector. An example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Patent No. 3,145,897, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a conventional card connector. In FIG. 14, housing 811 has a front wall portion 811a, a bottom panel portion 811b, and a pair of side panel portions 811c. This accommodates a card tray 961. The front wall portion 811a and the side panel portions 811c are made of an insulating material, and the bottom panel portion 811b is metallic. An open portion 811d is formed in the center of the bottom panel portion 811b. When the bottom panel portion 811b is secured to a predetermined portion of the surface of a printed circuit board, the connecting terminals disposed on the surface of the printed circuit board are exposed via the open portion 811d. The card tray 961 has a front wall portion 965, a rear wall portion 963, a bottom panel portion 969, and a pair of side panel portions 964. This accommodates a memory card, and is inserted into the housing 811 of the card connector. Also, an open portion 970 is formed in the center of the bottom panel portion 969.
When a memory card is accommodated in the card tray 961, the connecting pads disposed on the backside of the memory card are exposed via the open portion 970. Therefore, when a card tray 961 accommodating a memory card is inserted into the housing 811 of the card connector, the connecting pads of the memory card make contact with the connecting terminals of the printed circuit board exposed via the open portion 811d of the bottom panel portion 811b of the housing 811 and an electrical connection is established.
However, a conventional card connector does not have a mechanism in the card tray 961 for holding a memory card. When the user handles a card tray 961 containing a memory card, the memory card may slip out. Also, because there is a bottom panel portion 969 in the card tray 961, when the card tray 961 is inserted into the card connector, the bottom face of the housing 811 comes into contact with the bottom panel portion 969 in the portion protruding upwards such as the tips of the connecting terminals, and this portion may become damaged.